Topic: “My Coal Journey”

Location: President’s Hall, The Penn Stater

Introduction / Moderator:  Robert Pangborn / Patty Satalia

Bio: Twice named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association, Kathy Mattea carved out a role for herself in the late 1980s and 1990s as a sensitive yet energetic artist at ease both with country tradition and free-ranging innovation.  In 1990, the West Virginia native won the first of her two Grammy Awards, earning the Best Female Country Vocal Performance award for her moving “Where’ve You Been,” co-written by husband Jon Vezner.  She is among the most successful women in the genre’s history, yet her creative spirit has led her to explore musical territory extending well beyond its confines.   Her recent recordings have intertwined Celtic, gospel, and bluegrass influences with the folk and acoustic music that have always served as her artistic anchor.

An early spokesperson and advocate for AIDS awareness and research, Kathy’s long history of activism has led her to bring public attention to several current environmental issues: as a grass-roots presenter of The Climate Project’s global warming slideshow, and in efforts to curtail mountaintop removal coal mining in her native Appalachia.   The work and the music joined together to produce her recent CD, “COAL”, featuring songs from the coal country and culture of “her place and her people”, and her latest release, “Callin’ Me Home.”